The present invention relates to an optical disk for recording data on the two faces thereof, and the associated reading device. In particular the invention relates to a cartridge having on each face thereof a substantially radial opening for access to the disk and a shutter for normally closing the two openings, the shutter being held resiliently in its closure position and being slidable from the position in opposite directions to uncover the openings.
As is known, devices for reading optical disks which are recorded on the two faces thereof are arranged to read one face at a time with a single read head, so that the disk has to be inserted on each occasion with the desired face facing towards the head. There is a single shutter for the two faces so that it has to be actuated in different ways for the two faces.
Cartridges are known in which the shutter is displayed from the closure position in a single direction with respect to the cartridge, independently of the face which is to be read. Thus, with respect to the reader, the shutter has to be displaced in two opposite directions so that that arrangement requires two different members for controlling opening of the shutter.
A cartridge has also been proposed in which the shutter is slidable from the closure position in opposite directions and is held in the closure position by a pair of torsion springs so that the cartridge is complicated in construction and the shutter is liable to tilt. In turn, the associated reading device causes opening of the shutter by means of a cam configuration under the action of a motor, so that that system is complicated and expensive to build.